


Calling Clifford

by noellehenry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Britain in Bloom competition, Fluff, Humour, Ice Cream Parlors, M/M, Mischievous Dogs, Summer, beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-15 01:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noellehenry/pseuds/noellehenry
Summary: Harry lives in the quaint little seaside village of Saint Filan by the Sea, where he writes, eats frozen foods, ogles Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and dogsits, unintentionally.Or the summer AU where Clifford has his own peculiar ways of matchmaking.





	Calling Clifford

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fluffy fic I wrote as a distraction from a much darker story that will be published later this year. I had fun writing this summer fic. Lots of silly situations and a happy ending for Harry and Louis. Enjoy!
> 
> As always thank you to [ Sam](http://britpickerhl.tumblr.com/) for britpicking the story and correcting any grammar mistakes.
> 
> Tumblr post for the fic is [here](https://noellehenryfics.tumblr.com/post/176372598006/calling-clifford-by-noellehenry-rating-general)

 

Saint Filan by the Sea is a quaint little village on the South Devon coast. Nestled between two cliffs, it is a popular destination for families with small children in the summer season. There is no loud amusement park or arcade disturbing the peace and quiet of the villagers. The only night-entertainment is a local cocktailbar, called ‘Wave’. For those who prefer a little more exciting entertainment until the early morning hours there’s Torquay, not too far from Saint Filan by the Sea. Some say the village is boring and sleepy, especially the teenagers living in Saint Filan by the Sea. Harry assumes from their point of view, it is, kind of. He can sympathize, he’s been a teenager after all. That was quite some time ago. He’s been living here for a few years now. He writes freelance for various magazines, but also has a column in the local newspaper, which causes some writers-block on occasion, depending on the subject he’s supposed to write about. Today is such a day.

Harry stretches his back muscles, his hands in the air, while he’s seated on an uncomfortable metal chair on the terrace of his favourite hang-out spot in the village; the Little Scoop ice cream shop. It has a cute red and white striped sun shade, boxwood in pots standing in front of the large window, and metal chairs and tables placed at the storefront. The shop is located on Beach Lane. A white fence separates the lane from the promenade

Little Scoop is a cute little seasonal place and highly popular among the villagers and tourists alike, that serves the most amazing ice creams, sundaes, milkshakes and frozen yoghurts. Sadly, it is only open a few months a year, so Harry visits as often as he can to indulge himself. Devouring the most heavenly caramel sundaes or a delicious vanilla and chocolate chip cookie ice cream cone, while he’s trying to work on his weekly column, but the words just won’t come.

Today he is supposed to be finishing a piece on the safety rules for the beach, but he’s a bit stuck; there is so much you can write about them, without the column becoming patronizing. The rules sound rather obvious to him, but year after year they prove to be necessary, because lots of people simply ignore the dangers of the sea. Last year a man nearly drowned while relaxing on an inflatable bed, when the tide had come in and he’d been drifting of to the cliffs. Liam, his best friend and professional lifeguard, still talks about that particular rescue operation.

The safety rules are on display at various spots near the beach and the paper prints them every week through summer, but they want him to write piece about the importance of the rules to go along with the prints. He notes down a couple of things he needs to check as to complete the story:

\-          always swim at a lifeguarded beach

\-          swim between the red and yellow flags

\-          never swim alone

\-          know your beach safety flags (mention all three UK flags)

\-          never use inflatables in strong winds or rough seas

\-          if you get into trouble, stick your hand in the air and shout for help

\-          if you see someone else in trouble, tell a lifeguard

\-          if you can’t see a lifeguard call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard (check emergency numbers are correct)

\-          always check tide times before you go swimming (mention the URL of the website)

Liam had been adamant he mentioned each rule in his writing instead of ‘read and obey local hazard signs’. When he’s about to resume typing, after his back has been sufficiently stretched, Harry spots him: Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, leaning casually against the doorpost of Little Scoop as he talks to shop-owner, Niall Horan.

Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip is one of the people Harry sees on a regular basis recently when he’s strolling through the village, passing Seaview Cottage where Mr. Corden tends to his precious roses, always greeting Harry with a big smile. Or the lady with the huge sunhat and Audrey Hepburn sunglasses, sipping from a cocktail at ‘Wave’ the fancy cocktailbar near the beach. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip has a cute little companion, called Clifford; a labradoodle puppy with a red ribbon around his collar, brown beads for eyes that curiously observe his surroundings as he sits, waiting impatiently for Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip to finish his conversation with the ice cream shop-owner. Harry gives the puppy a little wave when their eyes meet. The pup blinks with his eyes and gets up on his four short legs, about to walk towards Harry, but Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip pulls him back by the lead, gently.

“Here ya go! See ya soon.” Niall says as he hands the man his… mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. The man reaches for his wallet and pays.

“Thanks Niall. Bye!” He calls, then gives Harry a smile of acknowledgement and walks off, Clifford follows him happily. Harry sighs dreamily. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip is just as cute as his dog. He’s wearing blue jeans, the cuffs rolled up, showing his sockless feet clad in white Vans. His heavenly blue T-shirt, he’s paired with white braces! He’s got a bit of scruff on his chin and cheeks. His brown hair is styled into a casual quiff. The man’s arms are littered with tattoos. Cute and sexy; Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip is undoubtedly Harry’s type of guy.

Harry turns back to his laptop; he has a column to finish. No distractions. Back to work. He places his hands on the keyboard and writes for another half an hour, finishes his strawberry milkshake and stands up to go home. He walks past the beach, where he sees Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip and Clifford playing fetch; Clifford holding a stick in his mouth that is almost just as big as he is and brings it, or rather, drags it to his owner. Harry stands still and watches them for a while. It’s a funny scene; Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip throws a small stick, but Clifford insists on bringing back a bigger version he finds lying around on the beach. His owner just shakes his head fondly. The man throws another stick for Clifford to fetch and then looks up. He sees Harry. He waves and Harry, embarrassed for being caught staring, gives him a small wave back and then quickly starts walking, his cheeks red and warm.  

***

Three days later Harry sits in his usual spot in front of the ice cream shop, typing with passion on his laptop, tongue sticking out between his teeth when he sees someone walking past from the corner of his eye, his gaze swivels from his laptop screen and lands right on a denim-clad crotch, on the right he hears panting; a little black furball sticking out a pink tongue is eyeing him curiously; Clifford. Right, so that means the crotch he’s been staring at belongs to Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip. He quickly gazes upwards, his eyes involuntarily scanning the maroon T-shirt that covers the man’s torso, until he peers into two bright blue eyes, that look back at Harry with amusement. Harry wants to say something, a quick ‘hi’ would be good, for example, but somehow his brains aren’t cooperating in this moment; apparently frozen, like the frozen yoghurt he’s just consumed. He manages a small smile. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip opens his mouth to speak when Clifford pulls on the lead and starts barking furiously at something or someone passing by on the other side of the street. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip turns to see what the commotion is about. There’s a cat sitting on the fence, hissing at Clifford, which only makes the puppy angrier. He pulls hard, effectively breaking free from his owner’s hold and runs across the street, going straight to the cat, who arches her back, hisses once more and jumps off the fence on the other side and runs away. Clifford stands still on the pavement and barks some more. In the mean time Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip has run across the street towards his mischievous dog and stands before him, hands on his hips, shaking his head disapprovingly. He’s saying something to the dog, that Harry can’t hear. Whatever it is, it shuts Clifford up. The man picks up the lead and walks off into the village with Clifford following him. Harry suspects the dog is sulking from the way his head hangs. Harry sighs as he watches the pair go. He walks inside, orders a cool drink and takes it back to his seat and goes back to his typing.

***

It’s Saturday. Harry has the weekend off. He’s lying in bed, too lazy to get up. That is, until his nose catches a whiff of freshly made coffee, which means Liam is in the kitchen making breakfast. Time for Harry to get up. He throws the duvet back, rolls off the bed and walks to the kitchen, wearing nothing but his black Calvin Klein boxers; Liam won’t mind, he’s used to Harry’s nakedness ever since they first moved in together at uni.

“Morning!” Liam greets him as Harry sits down at the breakfast bar, stretching his arms above his head and stifling a yawn. Liam’s baking eggs and bacon. “Want some?” he asks, looking over his shoulder.

“Love to, thanks.” Harry pours himself and Liam a mug of the brown liquid. “Any plans today?”

“Sophia is bringing Watson over in an hour, thought I might take a long walk with him along the beach.” Liam answers.  Right, it’s Watson weekend. Harry loves Watson, he really does; it’s just, well, when Watson is in the house, there’s no space left. When Watson lies down on the floor, it means Harry and Liam will have to jump over him to get around in the house. When Watson stands in the kitchen, make sure your dinner isn’t on the table, because he’ll snatch it off your plate, with all innocent eyes too. When Harry sits in the armchair, Watson likes to cuddle up in his lap, just like he did when he was a puppy: Watson is a grown Great Dane. Liam and Sophia got him when they were still living together. Two years ago they broke up; Sophia kept Watson and Liam moved in with Harry once again and Watson is now visiting on weekends when Liam doesn’t work.

“Good plan, it looks lovely outside.” Harry peers through the tiny kitchen window. The sky is bright blue, another beautiful day. They eat their breakfast together. Harry takes a shower, he lets the waterbeams massage his back. That feels good. He’s had a bad back since his growth spurt in his teenage years. He’s had physiotherapy and has done exercises. They help for some time, but sitting on Niall’s rackety chairs in front of the ice cream shop might not be such a good idea for his bad back. If only Niall didn’t serve all those amazing frozen delicacies or… had better chairs.

Harry sighs as he dries off, brushes his teeth and walks to his bedroom in his, clean, boxers. He grabs his jean shorts and a white T-shirt, slips on his slippers, combs his curls and goes back to the living room.

‘Oh, hi Harry.’ Sophia greets him.

‘Hi, Soph. Where’s the big boy?’

‘In the kitchen, he’s starving.’ Sophia replies, rolling her eyes.

‘Well… he is a big dog! I’m sure he needs extra food to stay fit.’  Harry defends Watson with a grin on his face. Watson appears to be hungry 24 hours a day.

‘Right. Well, I’m going to go. I’ll pick him up tomorrow night. Have fun!” Sophia smiles as she leaves. Liam shouts goodbye from the kitchen.

An hour later Liam, Harry and Watson walk along the promenade. Since Harry had no fixed plans for today, he decided to join Liam and Watson.  Together they stroll in a quiet pace along the beach, both Liam and Harry are wearing sunglasses to shield their eyes from the sunlight. Watson sniffs here and there while they walk, always looking for food. Some people take a detour when they see them coming. Harry assumes it’s because of Watson and not because he or Liam look threatening. They pass the ice cream shop.

‘Want some?’ Liam asks. Harry nods. Liam goes in and orders two milkshakes for them both.

‘Watson is visiting, I see.’ Harry hears Niall say. ‘I’ll fetch a bowl for him. You’re gonna sit in Harry’s usual spot?’ Harry can’t hear what Liam says, but he sits down on ‘his’ chair, expecting Liam to have said ‘yes’.

Liam comes back holding two big sized milkshakes and sets them on the table. Niall follows him, holding a bowl of water and places it in front of Watson, who whines in appreciation. He immediately starts drinking as if he hasn’t just had his breakfast and water before they left the house. Niall pats him on the head and excuses himself, it’s too busy in the shop, he doesn’t have time for a bit of a chat.

‘Gosh, this tastes so good!’ Liam sighs after he’s taken a big gulp of milkshake from his straw.

‘I know. I gain pounds in summer, just because of this place.’ Harry complains as he rubs his tummy.

Then a black puppy comes running towards the bowl. He barks when he’s in front of Watson. Watson looks up, probably wondering why the little pup is disturbing him.

‘Clifford! For fuck’s sake!’ They hear a man calling as he comes running to the ice cream shop. Clifford ignores the voice and doesn’t even bother to look up. The man stands still near their table, his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. It’s Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip, wearing cute cut off jeans and a black T-shirt.

Watson resumes his drinking, but Clifford has other plans. He sets his teeth in the bowl and pulls the bowl towards himself, then picks it up and before anyone knows what’s happening, he’s running off with the bowl between his teeth. Watson is confused, he looks up at Liam as if he wants to ask ‘what is happening?’

‘Geez…’  Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip mutters, before he calls again. “Clifford! Come back!’ He takes off after the dog again.

Harry can’t help it, he bursts out in laughter when he sees both Liam and Watson looking confused.

Niall is leaning against the doorpost, laughing out loud too.

‘Clifford is at it again, huh? Sorry Watson, Clifford is just a little brat, he’s in obedience school, but I guess he’s the naughty boy there, I doubt he’ll ever learn to behave. I’ll bring you another bowl, big boy.’  Niall says to the Great Dane and goes back into the shop.

Liam pats Watson’s head in reassurance and glances at Harry.

‘Do you know that guy?” He asks him.

‘Not really, I’ve seen the guy and the dog around a few times. The pup is a bit of a handful.’ Harry replies, still laughing.

‘He sure wasn’t impressed by Watson’s size.’ Liam shakes his head.

‘Nothing impresses Clifford, I think. Here you go Watson, don’t loose this one.’ Niall grins as he places another bowl of water in front of the dog.

‘I haven’t seen them before. Are they new in the village?’

‘Yeah, moved here a few weeks ago. They live next to the pub, in Shell Cottage.’ Niall says as he goes back inside, serving a new customer.

‘Thanks Niall.’ Liam says motioning to Watson’s bowl.

They finish their milkshakes and get up. The take the path to the cliffs. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip and Clifford are nowhere to be seen.

***

‘Harry?’ Liam knocks on Harry’s bedroom door. Harry opens his eyes slowly and with a groggy voice, answers.

‘Yeah?’

‘Can I come in?’

‘Sure, what’s up?”

Liam opens the door, looking at him apologetically.

‘Sorry to wake you this early. I just got a call, I need to take over a shift. Can you take care of Watson for me? I’ll be off at 3.00 p.m.’

‘Yeah, sure. No problem. I’ll take him to the beach. We’ll be fine.’ Harry replies yawning.

‘Great! Thanks, mate. See you later.’

When Liam is gone, Harry tries to go back to sleep, but it's in vain. He hears Watson whining in front of his bedroom door and he sighs. He’ll take a nap at the beach, later.

An hour and a half later he closes the front door behind him. His rugsack on his back, Watson on a lead as they head for the beach; it’s half past nine, still early. Not many businesses are open yet and the beach is still pleasantly empty. Harry jogs along the beach where the sea touches the sand with Watson next to him, who is desperately trying to jump over the white horses; he doesn’t like to get his paws wet. It’s a funny sight; a Great Dane trying to avoid the water by jumping up and down. They jog for another ten minutes and then Harry sits down in the sand with Watson next to him. He takes out a plastic bowl from the rugsack and fills it with water from a bottle. He places it down before Watson who happily slurps the cool liquid. Harry drinks from the bottle and screws the cap on before he lies down in the sand and rests his head on the rugsack. He closes his eyes and snoozes.

‘Woof! Woof!’

Harry doesn’t know how much time has passed, he’s sure he only dozed off for a while. He opens an eye and sees Watson leaning one of his huge paws on his bowl, protectively, while a little black rascal with a red ribbon tied around his neck, tries to grab the bowl from under Watson’s paw.

‘It’s you again.’ Harry sighs. He admires Watson’s patience with the labradoodle pup. ‘Did you break free from your owner again?’ He eyes the lead and then sits up, he scans the area for Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip, but he doesn’t see him. He quickly grabs the red leather lead, hoping Clifford’s gorgeous owner will show up soon. Clifford starts whining, as he lets go of the bowl, then lies down, but keeps whining.

‘What’s wrong, buddy? Are you thirsty?’ Clifford just looks at him with brown pleading eyes. Harry grabs another water bottle from the rugsack, opens it and pours it into the bowl. Watson starts drinking. Clifford wiggles closer to the bowl and tries to drink. Now it’s Watson’s turn to whine. He looks at Harry for help.

‘Clifford is just thirsty. Let him have some water too.’ Harry says, hoping Watson will understand. He pushes the bowl a bit towards Clifford, not too far, just in case Clifford decides to ‘steal’ another bowl. Clifford drinks greedily from the offered water.

‘Easy boy, easy.’ Harry says gently. Watson just stares at the pup. Harry glances around once more, there’s still no one coming for the labradoodle pup. Clifford lies down; he’s clearly tired. His little brown eyes close and he sighs deeply.

‘Poor guy. I wonder where your owner is. I’m sure he misses you.’ Harry says to the pup, who is already snoring softly. Watson stands up and gently sniffs the pup, who is too deep asleep to notice the Great Dane’s inspection. Watson lies down next to the pup and curls around him as if he wants to protect him from…. From what exactly? The big bad waves?

Harry looks at them, endeared.

‘You’re a big softy.’ He accuses Watson with a chuckle. Watson closes his eyes and soon he’s snoring too.

‘I guess we’ll be here a little while longer.’ Harry smiles. He retrieves a book from his rugsack and starts reading. He wraps a leash on each wrist, just a safety precaution to prevent the dogs from running off. He wonders why nobody is coming for the pup.

Half an hour later, Watson wakes up and becomes restless. Time to go. Harry puts the book, his bottle and the bowl back in his rugsack and stands up. Watson does too. Harry stretches his back and watches the black puppy. Cllifford is still asleep. Harry squats down and softly strokes the labradoodle’s head.

‘Wake up, Clifford. We need to go, buddy. I’m taking you back to your home.’ He says. The pup stirs and opens one brown bead. ‘Hi, sleepy head.’ Harry smiles at him. The pup seems to enjoy the attention; he wiggles his head in Harry’s hand, demanding a few more strokes on his head. Then Harry stands up and Clifford follows. It’s then, that the little dog sees Watson standing in front of him; the pup’s eyes go wide and he walks back a few steps. Harry chuckles.

‘Impressive, huh? He’s just a big softy.’ Harry reassures the puppy. ‘Let’s get you home.’ He gently pulls the lead. Together they walk off the beach towards the promenade. It’s much busier now. Watson trots along, while Harry is keeping an eye on Clifford, who behaves for once and tries to keep up with Watson, but still eyes the giant dog with suspicion. His little legs are going as fast as he can walk. Harry passes the ice cream shop where Niall is waving him over.

‘What happened?’ He asks, trying to hide a grin.

‘I’m dogsitting.’ Harry laughs as he points to the odd pair of dogs.

‘I can see that. But how did you end up with Clifford?’

‘He found Watson and me on the beach. Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip was nowhere in sight, so I decided to take Clifford home.”

‘Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip??!!” Niall’s eyes go wide.

‘Yeah, well the guy appears to prefer mint chocolate chip ice cream, so that’s what I’ve been calling him in my head.’ Harry blushes embarrassedly. Niall laughs, but tells him.

‘His name is Louis, Louis Tomlinson.’ Niall winks at Harry.

‘Oh… oh, okay.’ Harry stutters with red cheeks.

‘Well, say hello to Louis for me when you deliver Clifford.’ Another wink from Niall, before he wipes the metal table clean, ready for the next customer to be served.

Harry continues his walk, a lead in every hand. Clifford happily runs next to him, while Watson is walking a little ahead of him; it’s quite the sight. Watson is almost walking in slow motion while Clifford is running, his little legs unable to keep up with the other dog.

Harry opens the gate to Shell Cottage and walks up the pebble path to the blue front door and knocks. Watson sits perfectly still, while Clifford barks excitedly, sensing he’s at home. The door opens.

‘Clifford! Where have you been?? We were so worried!’ A young blonde woman greets him as she kneels immediately to hug the pup. He licks her cheek in greeting. ‘You gave the girls quite a scare.’ She rubs the dog’s black ears softly.

Harry coughs a little awkward. The woman looks up and smiles. She gets up and reaches a hand out to Harry and says apologetically.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I’m Lottie Tomlinson.’  Harry shakes her hand, holding the lead from Watson firmly in his hand.

‘I’m Harry Styles. I’ve come to return Clifford.’

She continues to pet Clifford’s head.

‘Where did you find him? The twins were walking him, when he broke free. They couldn’t find him anywhere!’ Lottie explains with a sigh.

‘Clifford found us on the beach. I’ve been waiting to see if… uhm Louis, came for him? But he didn’t come.’ Harry blushes slightly.

‘Oh, right! Louis is in London for a few days. The twins offered to take care of Clifford, but well… he’s a bit of a handful.’ Lottie looks at the pup with fond eyes.

‘He is… quite excited.’ Harry replies smilingly. ‘He’s made friends with Watson here, which reminds me, I have to go home. Sophia will soon come and fetch him.’ He gives Lottie Clifford’s lead.

‘Well, thank you so much. I’m sure Louis will want to thank you in person, once he’s back.’ Lottie says. Clifford barks a few times and rubs his head against Watson’s leg. ‘Oh gosh, how adorable.’ She squeals.  Watson licks the pup’s head once and then Harry turns to walk back home.

‘Well, that was a bit of a disappointment.’ He tells Watson on the way back. ‘Here I thought I found a cute guy in this village, as it turns out he’s already spoken for.’  He shakes his head. Watson keeps walking, oblivious to Harry’s pitiful confession.

***

It’s a few days later. Liam and Harry are ready to go to the local cocktailbar, Wave. Liam is in pale blue skinny jeans and a snug plain white T-shirt, showing off his toned torso and tanned arms. Harry is dressed in his signature black skinnies and a black sheer button down, adorned with red flowers and matching black boots. His curls are framing his face, instead of being put away in a scarf, like he usually wears his hair, they’re allowed the freedom tonight to bounce up and down. Liam and Harry walk to the beach, they are the only ones; many other young people are heading to the bar too. Wave is already crowded when they arrive.

‘What you’re having?’ Liam asks him.

‘Blue Hawaii’ Harry replies without thinking.

‘Colourful and … amusing; remember the last time you drank it?’ Liam raises an eyebrow.

‘Ugh, don’t remind me.’ Harry winces. He’d hugged a lamp post, declared it his undying love, without, of course, receiving a love declaration in return. Unfortunately, someone had filmed the scene and the snippet had found its way to the local website. He’d been receiving weird looks in the days to follow. ‘I’ll just take the one.’ He promises. And he really intends to…

The music is in full swing. Liam and Harry have been dancing together to Vamos a la Playa and So many men so little time. Harry going all out at the last one, making Liam double over with laughter. By now Harry has had more than one Blue Hawaii….

‘I’m so tired I could sleep.’ He says when they sit on a barstool, Harry leans his head on Liam’s shoulder.

‘Not yet, mate. We’ve got to get you home first. And remember, no hugging lampposts this time.’ Liam warns him. He pays for their drinks and wishes the bartender a goodnight. Harry gets up from his stool, but almost immediately sags down again.

‘My legs don’t work, Liam.’ He pouts and sighs deeply.

‘Oh, they’d better work, I’m not going to carry you home.’ Liam says. He slings Harry’s arm around his shoulder and hauls him from the stool. Harry leans heavily on him.

‘You know the drill; left, right, left, right.’ Liam tells him.

‘Right… no, left.’ Harry giggles. Liam shakes his head at the bartender, who grins and gives him thumbs up and mimicks ‘good luck’.

Slowly Harry and Liam make their way to the exit. They pass a small group of men, holding beers in their hands. They smirk when they see Liam holding Harry up.

‘Good luck, mate! Hope you’re not living far from here.’ One of the men says to Liam. Harry glances to the right and then grins. He points at one of the men.

‘Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip!’ Harry exclaims drunkenly as if he and Louis are good friends, instead of being strangers who have seen each other just a couple of times in passing. Louis raises his eyebrows in amusement.

‘Hello to you too.’ He smirks. Then Harry turns to Liam and whispers loud enough for the men to hear.

‘That’s Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip and he’s got a little one.’ He hiccups. The group of men burst out in laughter.

‘Oh Tommo, really?’ One of them says.

‘Liam here, has got a huge one.’ Harry says proudly, trying to stand up straight and failing, he leans back onto Liam’s shoulder. Now the entire group is in hysterics, including Louis. Harry giggles happily while Liam blushes furiously.

‘Let’s go home!’ He hisses embarrassedly to Harry and pulls him firmly with him.

‘Have fun, the two of you!’ One of the men calls after them.

‘Bye Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip!’ Harry waves clumsily and almost trips over his own feet, as he tries to keep up with Liam’s fast pace.

***

The next morning Harry wakes up with the King of hangovers. There’s a big glass filled with water and two tablets of Panadol on his bedside table. Sweet Liam, Harry thinks. He needs to thank him for it later… much later. He takes the tablets and the water and goes back to sleep.

It’s already past noon, when Harry wakes up again. His head is still pounding, but he’s feeling better than when he woke up earlier.

Liam is watching TV when Harry enters the living room.

‘How are you feeling?’ He inquires from his seat. He’s watching football on the telly.

‘Awful. Thanks for the Panadol and water; you’re a star.’ Harry grimaces. Even hearing himself talk is too much for his head.

‘There’s food in the fridge, if you want some.’ Liam offers. Harry’s stomach only accepts a piece of toast and butter and tea. He’s joining Liam in the living room, sits down on the couch, while drinking his tea.

‘I’m sorry for last night. I don’t remember much, in which case I’m already apologizing for whatever ruckus I caused this time.’

‘Yeah, it was quite embarrassing.’ Liam chuckles. Harry groans.

‘What did I do this time?’ He asks, although he honestly doesn’t want to know, not really, but… just in case he ends up on the local website again, he might as well hear it from his best friend.

‘You called Clifford’s owner Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip and told me he had a little one.’ Liam smirks. Harry claps his hand over his mouth, his eyes are filled with horror. ‘Then you told him and his friends that I had a huge one.’ Liam can barely hold his laughter when he sees that Harry is horrified.

‘Oh my God… I’m not going outside ever again! Why didn’t you stop me?!’ Harry exclaims and immediately grabs his head. Shouting is a no-no today. His head is pounding enough as it is.

‘There’s no stopping you when you’re drunk. I had trouble enough keeping you up straight, since you could barely walk. Besides, I think you were referring to the dogs, now that I think about it.’ Liam says in thought.

‘I probably did. I wouldn’t know if he had a little one, would I? And you’re okay, but not huge.’ Harry replies. Liam throws a cushion at him, which Harry surprisingly avoids.

‘You knob! You’re not drinking Blue Hawaii again, when I’m with you!’

It’s a wise decision. If only Harry didn’t like it so much. He sighs.

***

‘I heard you had fun at Wave on Saturday.’ Niall grins mischievously when Harry orders a frozen yoghurt.

‘Don’t mention it. I really need to stay away from the Blue Hawaii cocktails.’ He groans as he pays for his order.

‘Nah, you’re so funny when you’re drunk. Remember the lamp post?’ Niall winks at him.

‘As if I could forget! Everyone keeps reminding me of that unfortunate incident.’ Harry glares at Niall.

‘So…, Louis has a little one, huh?’ Niall continues innocently. Harry’s mouth falls open with disbelief.

‘How?!’ He asks.

‘The local grapevine, mate. Didn’t know you knew Louis that well.’ Niall wiggles his eyebrows. Harry blushes a scarlet red.

‘I do not! And I was referring to his dog!’ He defends himself.

‘Ah, that explains why you said Liam had a huge one. Didn’t think you and Liam were intimate like that.’ Niall grins. Harry picks up his frozen yoghurt and resolutely walks outside.

‘I’m going to sit here.’ He calls back petulantly when he hears Niall laughing behind the counter. He spoons a chunk of the frozen stuff in his mouth and closes his eyes, if it weren’t for the delicacies Niall serves, he would find another hang out in the village. He opens his laptop and starts typing.

The village is competing in ‘Britain in Bloom’. Harry doubts they’ll win, even though James Corden is determined to have the village win the competition this year. James and his little gardener’s club are planting and hanging baskets all over the village to get it ready in time for the judges to arrive. He’s on a roll with the piece for the paper when he feels someone sniffing his leg. He looks down and sighs when he spots the little black labradoodle at his feet, his favourite red ribbon tied around his neck and the red lead hanging loose.

‘Clifford… hi. Did you escape again?’ He strokes the pup’s furry head. Clifford whines and lies down, he looks tired. ‘Did you run here? Where’s Louis?’

Clifford doesn’t reply, naturally. Harry picks up the lead and ties it around the leg of the chair.

‘Niall!’ He shouts.

‘Yeah!’ Niall shouts back, there are no other customers, so nobody will be disturbed.

‘Can you get a bowl of water for a very thirsty dog?’

‘Clifford?!’ Niall calls back.

‘Oh yeah.’

They grin at each other when Niall brings the bowl and Clifford attacks it as if he hasn’t drunk in days.

‘How does he do it? He appears to be walking himself more often, than not.’ Harry asks.

‘I think he’s just a little over excited most of the time, he’s still very young.’ Niall defends the pup, patting him.

‘Louis not coming?’ Niall looks up as well as Harry and looks around. Harry shakes his head.

‘Nope.’

‘Well, I can’t bring him back, it’s going to be busy soon in the shop.’ Niall says.

‘I’ll go.’ Harry sighs, not looking forward to meeting Louis Tomlinson after Saturday night’s events.

‘Ooh, you’re brave.’ Niall claps him on the shoulder and winks. Harry closes his laptop and puts it back in his bag. He unties the lead from the chair and pulls it softly.

‘Come on Clifford, let’s get you back.’ He says to the dog. Clifford returns to the bowl for a last sip of water and then follows Harry. Harry is about to turn into the lane to walk to Shell Cottage, when Clifford pulls on the lead and barks. Harry ignores it and continues walking down the lane to the cottage. He opens the gate, walks over the tiny pebbles to the front door. Clifford isn’t happy, he keeps barking. Harry knocks on the door a few times, in vain; there’s nobody home.

‘Now what do we do? I have work to finish, I can’t entertain you all morning.’ Harry tells Clifford. ‘You want to go to the beach for a short stroll?’ Clifford pulls the lead and Harry picks up his pace as Clifford seems to know exactly what the word ‘beach’ means, because he leads Harry straight to the entrance of the beach.

‘Clever boy.’ Harry compliments the pup, who pulls again and starts running when he sees a pair of seagulls sitting. He barks, the seagulls fly up and Clifford goes after them, pulling Harry with him. Harry is determined not to let go off the lead and jogs after Clifford and when the dog, apparently in better shape than Harry is, doesn’t stop running. Harry calls firmly.

‘Stop Clifford!’ The dog immediately halts. ‘Sit!’ and sits.

‘What the fuck!!!’ Harry hears a voice panting behind him. He glances over his shoulder and sees a red-faced Louis Tomlinson running after him and Clifford. ‘How did you do that!!??’ He pants, resting his hands on his knees as he tries to regain his breath.

‘What do you mean?’ Harry asks, out of breath too.

‘Clifford. You yelled stop and sit and he just obeyed!’ Louis points at his dog.

‘Oh… I dunno. I just said It more out of desperation than anything else. Maybe he heard it in my voice?’ Harry says and shrugs.

‘And thank you, by the way, for always looking after him when me or my family loses him. He’s a little terror. You must be Harry.’ Louis holds out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry shakes it.

‘I am. And you’re Louis.’ He replies a little shy.

‘You may call me Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip, if you want, I think it’s kind of cute.’ Louis says, blushing a little.

‘Oh… sorry about that…I mean Saturday…uhm’ Harry stutters clumsily with blushing cheeks from embarrassment.

‘Oh… it’s fine. You were kind of drunk and very funny. I suppose you were referring to the dogs and not uhm… to our manly parts?’ Louis rubs his neck.

‘I was…. I think. I must have. Liam told me what happened, I can’t really remember, which is bad. I’ll never drink Blue Hawaii cocktails again.’ Harry says sheepishly. Louis giggles.

‘Shall I take my naughty dog from you? I’m sure you have something better to do than dogsitting.’

Harry gives Louis Clifford’s lead and Clifford comes to greet him. Louis rubs his little ears.

‘You little terror, I was only on the phone to my boss for a minute and you had to escape, hadn’t you?’ Clifford barks happily in reply. Louis shakes his and sighs. He looks up to Harry. ‘Can I treat you to a cup of coffee, as a thank you for caring for Clifford, please?’

Harry wants to, desperately so, but he should get back to work and he needs to remind himself that Louis has a wife.

‘I really can’t. I must finish a piece for the paper. Thanks for offering though.’ He says softly.

‘Oh… well, some other time maybe?’ There’s disappointment in Louis’ voice.

‘Some other time.’ Harry confirms. ‘See you. Bye Clifford.’  He waves to the dog and then walks up to the promenade and to his house. When he sits down to, indeed, finish his column, he can’t help but think about his earlier encounter with the most gorgeous man in the village. He sighs sadly. Wife. Hands off. No distractions.

***

He has an appointment with Mr. Corden the next day; an interview for the competition Britain in Bloom. Mr. Corden, a sturdy man with bright blue eyes, is wearing faded jeans, a pink shirt and white braces. A straw hat completes his gardener’s look. Harry takes a picture of him in his precious rosegarden. Mr. Corden poses proudly with an exaggerated smile.

‘Done.’ Harry says when he’s taken the picture to go with this week’s assignment for the paper.

‘I think we have a chance of winning this year, I’m positive.’ Mr. Corden, James smiles.

‘What makes you so certain we have a chance of winning the competition this year as opposed to last year?’ Harry asks. He’s pressed the red button on the voice recorder to record the interview.

‘Have you seen the baskets hanging in the streets? They are a work of art. We have a unique collection of flowers assembled in them. The colour combination is sublime. We, the gardeners club, are really pleased with them. And have you seen the centrepiece in the square yet? The design is extraordinary! We’re almost finished planting. Saint Filan by the Sea is definitely a contender this year, I’m sure of it!’ James tells Harry enthusiastically.

Harry has seen the garden circular in the village square, covered with various colours of flowers forming the village name and a Saint figure in the centre. It does look beautiful, he admits.

Harry asks for the names of the other people from the local gardener’s club, involved in creating the centrepiece. James provides Harry with the names and wants to know if Harry will attend the judging on Saturday. Harry promises he’ll be there to write a piece about it, and hopefully he can write about the village’s victory in the national competition.

After a small tour through James’ beautiful garden, Harry heads to the ice cream shop and orders a vanilla milkshake.

‘You’re writing about the competition?’ Niall asks. Harry nods as he leans back on the metal chair, he stretches his legs in front of him.

‘James is certain the village will win this year’s competition.’

‘He’s always certain we’ll win; so far we haven’t.’ Niall shakes his head.

‘We did win Devon in Bloom.’ Harry informs him.

‘Yeah, but let’s face it; we’ve been competing for years there, almost every other village in the county has won the competition before, so they probably took pity on us.’ Niall says.

‘Maybe.’ Harry relents. ‘Anyway, let’s hope for the best. It would be nice for James and his gardener’s club to win Britain in Bloom this year. I admit I really like the centrepiece in the square.’

‘So, did you get Clifford back alright?’ Niall leans his elbows on the counter.

‘Oh… yeah.’ He blushes.

‘I bet Louis is happy you’re such a good dogsitter.’ Niall winks at him.

‘I’m not a dogsitter!’ Harry protests.

‘You might as well; Clifford seems to have a knack for finding you.’

‘It’s not my fault that dog has a way of escaping so often.’ Harry mutters.

‘I suspect Louis intentionally lets him escape.’ Niall teases.

‘Why would he do that?!’ Harry exclaims with his hands in the air.

‘Just saying.’ Niall turns to help another customer and with that their conversation ends. Harry enjoys his vanilla milkshake as he watches two children arguing on the beach. The little girl hits the boy with a plastic spade on his bum. The boy runs to a woman sitting in a beach chair, while he’s keeping a hand on his bum. The little girl places her hands on her hips, apparently happy with the boy’s departure.

***

Harry jogs from the paper’s office on the other side of the village all the way back to his cottage. It’s pouring with rain, there’s nobody outside except for a few locals hurrying out of the local Spar with grocery bags in one hand and an umbrella in the other walking briskly across the pavement on the way to their homes. Harry covers his head with the hood of his grey sweater as he continues his pace home. He’s about to turn into his lane behind the promenade when he hears soft whining. He turns around but doesn’t see anything. He stands still to listen, lowering his hood. The whining comes from the beach and it suspiciously sounds like a dog… a familiar dog. Harry sighs, pulls the hat on again and instead of going home, he runs to the beach. The hood of his sweater is clinging to his hair, he blinks against the raindrops that keep falling, clouding his vision.

He stands still to listen again, there it is; a soft, complaining whine. Harry scans the beach, it’s difficult to see with the rain clouding his vision. He decides to call.

‘Clifford!’

A small bark comes in reply. Harry looks to the right and there he spots him, a small wet black ball of fur trapped in what seems like a wire. Harry jogs towards the puppy, without bothering to look for its owner, suspecting Clifford once again has let himself out. He pants when he kneels beside the puppy, who indeed is trapped in a wire. His red ribbon is caught up in it. The pup tries to pull himself free, but only manages to trap himself more.

‘You need to sit still, buddy.’ Harry pets the dog’s head softly. Clifford whines pitiful, clearly unhappy the wire has him trapped. Harry tries to untie the ribbon from the wire by pulling on both ends, but it’s no use. The ribbon is almost entirely caught up in the wire.

‘I’m going to have to cut you lose with my pocket knife, Louis will have to get you a new ribbon, I’m afraid.’ Harry apologizes to the puppy, although he doubts Clifford cares about his red ribbon, right now he’s probably just anxious to be free. Harry takes out his pocket knife and carefully cuts the ribbon loose, immediately puts the knife away and holds Clifford’s collar so the pup can’t run away from him. The dog’s black coat is soaking wet. The rain only seems to get worse, thick drops are falling on his already thoroughly wet shoulders.

‘Alright, buddy, let’s get you to my house first.’ He lifts the pup in his arms and is rewarded with dog kisses. Clifford licks his cheek repeatedly. Harry giggles.

‘You’re tickling me, but I suppose it’s your way of saying ‘thank you Harry’.’ He hugs the dog tightly. Clifford has no intention to flee, instead he’s resting his head on Harry’s wet shoulder. As quick as he can with a slippery wet dog in his arms, he ploughs through the sand to the promenade and from there jogs to the house.

With one hand he fumbles for his keys in the front pocket of his jeans, while he firmly holds Clifford in his other arm. He opens the front door, walks in and closes it behind him with his bum, then he sets Clifford on the ground. The wet puppy immediately takes off to the kitchen.

‘Woah!’ He hears Liam yelling from the kitchen.

‘Sorry! I brought a guest.’ Harry calls back as he shrugs off his wet hoodie and his shoes. He grabs an old towel they use for drying Watson when he’s visiting and walks to the kitchen.

‘Do I ask?’ Liam asks with a smirk.

‘Nope.’ Harry says. Clifford sits in front of the electric heater, shaking his little body. ‘Eww, don’t do that. I’ll help you dry.’

Harry kneels and covers the puppy with the towel and starts rubbing softly, much to Clifford’s joy. He lies down on his back, paws in the air. Harry shakes his head fondly, his own hair dripping with water.

“I’ll fill Watson’s bowls. I’m sure he wants something to eat and drink.’ Liam offers.

‘You’re being spoiled.’ Harry whispers to the dog. As soon as Clifford hears the sound of dry dogfood hitting the bowl, he starts pacing up and down behind Liam.

‘You are hungry, aren’t you?’ Liam smiles down at Clifford. He places the bowls on the ground in their usual corner of the kitchen, near Watson’s bed.

‘I’m going to text Niall, ask him if he has Louis Tomlinson’s number.’ Harry says.

‘You do that. Dinner is almost ready.’

_‘Hi Niall, it’s Harry. Do you have Louis Tomlinson’s phone number for me?’_

_‘You’re going to ask him on a date?’_  Niall replies immediately.

_‘No! The black menace is at my house, I hope he’ll come and collect him.’_

_‘Good old Clifford. Hold on, I’ll have a look.’_ Niall sends back.

Niall gives him the number, Harry thanks him and immediately types in the given number. It takes a while before it gets answered.

‘Hello?’ Harry hears faintly. There’s a lot of noise in the background, like waves crashing against the cliffs and the wind blowing hard.

‘Louis? This is Harry. I got your number from Niall.’

‘Yeah? Okay.’

‘I found Clifford on the beach; he’s at my place now. Are you able to come and get him?’

‘Oh good!! I’ve been looking for him… again. I’m so sorry, Harry. Can you give me your address?’

Harry gives Louis directions. In the meantime he changes into black sweatpants and a grey T-shirt. He’s still towelling his hair dry when the doorbell rings. Clifford barks only once; he is too tired to make more noise and drops down on Watson’s bed. Harry quickly walks to the door and opens it. Before hims stands a thoroughly wet Louis Tomlinson.

‘Come in. Jesus, you’re going to catch a cold.’ Harry mutters as he almost pulls Louis inside, towel in one hand. Louis shivers, his teeth are clattering when he thanks Harry for calling him.

‘Clifford is fed and is sleeping on Watson’s bed. We’re about to have dinner, would you like to join us? Unless your wife is waiting for you.’ Harry says shyly.

‘MY WIFE??’ Louis exclaims and starts shivering again. ‘I don’t have a wife.’

‘Oh.’ Harry says dumbly. ‘Oh uhm, let me get you a towel, so you can dry off.’ He quickly walks to the cupboard at the end of the corridor, feeling confused, but also excited. Louis doesn’t have a wife. He suddenly sees a lot more options for the near future. He grabs a towel and walks back, smiling. ‘Here you go. The bathroom is here.’ He points to a door on the left. ‘I’ll get you some dry clothes.’

He almost pushes Louis into the bathroom. When Louis closes the door behind him, Harry leans against it for a moment, rubbing his face. He’s behaving like an idiot, pulling Louis into the house and then pushing him into the bathroom. He prays Louis doesn’t mind being manhandled a little. That thought makes Harry’s cheeks burn. He goes into his room to find finds Louis sweatpants and a hoodie. A sweater Harry once bought, but the size is a bit small on him. He’s never worn it. He takes them from the wardrobe and walks back to the bathroom door.

‘Uhm, I have some clothes for you, I’ll leave them in front of the door.’ Harry says to the closed bathroom door.

‘Thanks!’ Louis replies.

‘I’ll be in the kitchen.’ Harry marches quickly to the kitchen. Liam is laughing.

‘Mate, you’re being strange.’ He shakes his head and returns to stirring the pasta sauce.

‘Uhm, thanks… for everything, and …. I’d like to join you for dinner, if the offer still stands?’ Louis tugs on the hem of the navy sweater, a little nervous as he watches Liam and Harry.

‘Sure, have a seat.’ Liam points to a chair. Louis sits down and smiles; then he spots his dog, lying lazily on the huge dogbed and sighs.

‘You’re impossible, you know that.’ He says to the dog. Clifford opens one eye at hearing the familiar voice, but apparently unimpressed, he closes it again.

‘Where did you find him this time?’ Louis asks Harry when they all are sat at the table with a plate of spaghetti each in front of them.

‘On the beach, his red ribbon was trapped in a wire. I had to cut it loose, I’m afraid.’ Harry says as he takes a sip of water from his glass.

‘Oh, that’s alright, I have quite a collection of those, although I’m beginning to think he’d better not wear them. He could have choked if you hadn’t found him.’ Louis says in thought.

‘I heard him whining when I walked home from work, I suspected there was something wrong, so I went looking. ‘Harry says after he’s swallowed his spoonful of spaghetti.

‘So, you thought I had a wife?’ Louis asks curiously after a while.

‘OH… yeah, the blonde woman that was in your house when I returned him before, Lottie?’ Harry answers.

‘Ah! Okay, I get it. She’s my sister, hence the last name.’ Louis smiles.

‘OH! Sister?’

‘One of many; I have five sisters and a brother.’ Louis grins, when Liam almost chokes on a spaghetti string.

‘Six siblings?’ Harry’s eyes are wide.

‘Two sisters and then two sets of twins.’ Louis explains, like he’s probably done many times before.

‘Holy shit.’  Liam mutters.

‘You?’

‘I have two sisters.’ Liam replies.

‘One sister.’ Harry says next.

‘Coffee anyone?’ Liam asks when they’ve finished. Harry and Louis nod. They put the plates in the dishwasher and move to the living room with their mugs.

Outside it’s still raining. Unfortunately for Liam, he has a team meeting at 8.00 p.m. He finishes his coffee and stands up.

‘See you later guys! Bye Clifford.’ He pets the dog softly; Clifford is still in dreamland. He’s softly snoring, lying comfortably on the dogbed.

‘So, uhm… how can I ever thank you properly for all you’ve done for Clifford… and me. ‘Louis asks shyly. He’s curled up on the couch, looking young in Harry’s sweater, although too small for Harry, it still is big on Louis. Louis’ hair is still a little wet and his quiff has become a messy fringe, but it suits him. He’s still the most beautiful man Harry has ever seen.

‘Oh, it’s alright. No problem.’ Harry replies quickly. He finds, he actually doesn’t mind looking after Clifford; he’s gotten quite a bit attached to the little black puppy.

‘Can I take you out to dinner on Saturday? If you want to, of course.’ Louis asks softly with blushing cheeks.

‘OH…. Uhm, yeah, yeah, I’d love that.’ Harry says, a little surprised, but… pleasantly surprised.

‘You do realize I’m asking you on a date, right?’ Louis looks a bit uncertain.

‘A date… that’s …. uhm… cool.’ Harry could hit himself, he’s somehow lost the ability of answering with a normal sentence.

‘Good, good!’ Louis smiles relieved. ‘Just the two of us. Without Clifford.’

Harry laughs.

‘Are you sure he won’t escape?’

‘I’m not, but I’d like to think I can manage to leave him alone for a couple of hours without him disappearing from the house.’ Louis chuckles. ‘It’s quite embarrassing, you know. I don’t know how he does it.’

‘He’s just … resourceful.’ Harry offers. They look at each other and then burst out in laughter.

***

Harry has his recorder, a pen and notepad, just in case the recorder fails to record proper audible speeches and is waiting at the square with the rest of the villagers for the judges of Britain in Bloom to arrive. It’s sunny outside, the weather is cooperating. The hanging baskets are softly swaying in the summer breeze. James is pacing up and down nervously in a grey suit, which looks a bit out of place as most of his fellow gardeners are dressed in casual clothes, but James clearly wants to impress the judges not only with the floral creations but also by personal appearance. Even his formal suit can’t refrain him from adjusting a flower or picking out a missed weed. His fellow gardeners from the gardener’s club are trying to calm him down, but in vain. James keeps pacing up and down.

Liam is standing next to Harry with Watson sitting patiently in front of him. The villagers are talking excitedly amongst themselves, waiting for what’s to come. A cat walks determinedly to the floral garden circular and steps onto it. James tries to shoo it away with hand movements. Watson barks, attempting to help James, but remains seated in front of Liam. From the other side of the square a black dog comes barrelling through the crowd towards the cat in the garden circular. He barks and runs to the cat, flattening the flowers with his four little feet. Watson gets up, pulls on his lead and breaks free. He runs to Clifford who has successfully chased the cat away and is now excitedly barking, jumping up and down in the centrepiece, as if to claim victory. Watson joins him, crushing the entire village name of the flower display with his big paws. Both Liam and Louis are running towards their dogs and drag them away from the centrepiece.

James is on his knees and crying in despair. The villagers are in shock, some of them holding their hands before their mouths. The gardener club members look defeated. A few teenage boys are trying to hold their laughter and Harry?

He is just staring with open mouth at the scene in front of him, until he remembers he is supposed to report the happenings, good or bad, and quickly speaks into the recorder. Liam and Louis are standing on the promenade red-faced, both holding their dogs’ leads firmly. The cat, that unknowingly caused all the commotion, has disappeared to a safer place. And the centrepiece? Only Saint Filan is still standing proudly; the floral village name has been thoroughly destroyed. Amidst the chaos, the judges arrive.

They don’t win, unsurprisingly. Louis and Liam offer to restore the damage and instead of going on a dinner date that night, Harry is helping them to restore the centrepiece under James’ supervision. The local garden centre provided them with new plants; various colours of geraniums and baby’s breath. The dogs’ little adventure has become an expensive one. Liam and Louis are splitting the bill.

James and his gardener’s club are still devastated by the events.

‘I was so sure we would win this year!’ He whines after he’s had a few beers at the pub, Louis’ treat. His grey suit is dirty, his tie undone and there’s a button missing from his shirt.

‘I’m so sorry, Mr. Corden, honestly. I promise it won’t happen again. I’m taking Clifford to a new obedience school; he’ll be well-behaved this time next year, I’m sure.’ Louis promises after he’s had five beers and hugs James.

‘Let’s drink to that! Another beer for all of us.’ James rings the pub bell.

Harry giggles. His piece on the event has just been published online and has already gained a lot of attention from the national newspapers. His boss was very content with Harry’s work and promised him a raise in salary.

When Louis and Harry walk out of the pub later that night, they halt in front of the gate to Shell Cottage.

‘I promise, next Saturday, dinner at the Lobster at 8.00 p.m.’ Louis slurs and points from Harry to himself. ‘You and me, only.’

Harry giggles. Louis is cute when he’s a little intoxicated.

They do indeed go to dinner at the Lobster. Louis is wearing black jeans, band T-shirt and a black jacket and Clifford has a new red ribbon tied around his neck as they walk to Liam and Harry’s house.

Before Louis knocks on the door, he gives Clifford a few instructions.

‘Remember; no escaping, no stealing, no demolishing tonight. You behave tonight. ‘ He says to the puppy, who is impatiently waiting to get inside. He barks once.

‘I take that as a ‘yes Louis, I’ll behave tonight.’ Louis answers for Clifford. He knocks on the door. Harry promptly opens it.

‘You look nice.’ Harry compliments Louis.

‘You do too.’ Louis smiles and offers Harry his arm. Liam, who stand behind Harry, takes Clifford’s lead from Louis and leads the black labradoodle pup to the kitchen. Harry closes the door behind him and together Louis and Harry walk to the beach restaurant for a lovely evening out, just the two of them.

***

Saint Filan by the Sea wins Devon in Bloom the next year, but again fails to win the national competition. James is disappointed… again, but promises, next year… they will win Britain in Bloom.  

‘Poor James, he won’t give up.’ Harry says as he and Louis enjoy their ice creams on the terrace of Little Scoop; a mint chocolate chip cone for Louis and a strawberry cone for Harry; celebrating their first anniversary as a couple. Clifford is lying patiently, but clearly bored next to Harry’s chair, his lead safely fastened on the chairleg, a bowl of water in front of him. He’s grown quite a bit in the past year, but is still an adorable and excited black furball, who refuses to go outside without a red ribbon tied around his neck.

Niall watches them from the doorway as the couple enjoys their ice creams, a cat sits on the fence across the street and hisses. Clifford looks up and growls tremendously before he gets up and takes off, knocking Harry from his seat and dragging the metal chair with him across the street. Louis immediately runs after the dog, yelling his name, while Niall laughingly helps Harry get up.

Some things never change in Saint Filan by the Sea.


End file.
